Why do aortic aneurysms form where they typically do, at the upper arch or in the abdominal cavity? A new study explores the predilection of these sites for vascular dilatations.
A new 3D graft printing technique offers a potential solution to reduce thrombosis and restrain aneurysmal dilatation post-surgery, with potential for improving cardiovascular disease treatments.
New approaches to cardiovascular radiology are evolving to help clinicians gain an increasingly better insight into heart conditions. Latest developments in cardiovascular radiology include myocardial strain imaging, 4D flow and photon-counting CT technology. An ECR 2024 session shone the spotlight on these areas of cardiovascular imaging with expert speakers outlining the pros and cons of each.
Striking the balance between diagnostic efficacy and patient safety remains critical when utilising iodinated contrast media to deliver the best imaging outcomes. While playing a crucial role in diagnosis and treatment of disease, CT expert Efthimios Agadakos believes the medical profession has a duty to do its utmost to minimize patient risk from contrast media.
An interplanetary title for a quite down-to-earth topic: The symposium "Men are from Mars, women are from Venus" at the EACVI congress (European Association of Cardiovascular imaging) launched into the differences between the hearts of men and women. While the speakers could firmly establish that both sexes share the same home world, variations in their cardiac anatomy warrant a more…
Dutch researchers successfully inserted magnet-controlled miniature robots into an aorta model with kidneys. In the future, this technology could be used to remove blood clots.
Photon-counting CT enables accurate diagnosis of coronary artery disease in high-risk patients, a potentially significant benefit for people previously ineligible for noninvasive screening.
A new advanced form of CT imaging offers better cardiovascular imaging quality compared to dual-source CT (DSCT) in infants with suspected cardiac heart defects, according to a new study.
Photon-counting detector CT reduces the amount of contrast needed for CT angiography (CTA) while maintaining image quality, according to a new study published in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging.
MRI-derived wall shear stress values predict pathological changes in the aortic wall in patients with ascending aortic dilatation. This can help identfy at-risk patients.
Since Compamed could only be held digitally last year, due to the pandemic, the event now takes place publicly again. Almost 500 registrations from exhibitors prove that there is a high level of interest from medical technology suppliers – a huge step towards reaching normality again.
A new positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracer can detect abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and potentially predict when they will rupture, according to research presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2021 Annual Meeting. Targeting a novel biomarker associated with AAA, the radiotracer is effective both in diagnosis and in providing information to assist in the…
A simple blood test could help doctors spot deadly damage to the aorta, the body’s largest blood vessel, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) presented at the British Cardiovascular Society conference.
With interventional procedures becoming more and more complex the demands on the interventionalists are also increasing. Endovascular simulators allow practical angiography training. In December 2020, the University Hospital Essen, Germany, was the first European facility to install Mentice’s VIST G7+. Professor Dr Jens Theysohn, senior physician at the Institute of Diagnostic and…
Over 23 million people around the world suffer from heart failure. The disease is usually treated with a transplant, but because donated hearts are hard to come by, there is an ongoing need for alternative therapies. With new developments in cardiac assistance systems, we can delay the need for a transplant – or even eliminate it altogether,” says Professor Yves Perriard, head of EPFL’s…
Engineers at EPFL’s Center for Artificial Muscles have developed a silicone aorta that can reduce how hard patients’ hearts have to pump. Their breakthrough could offer a promising alternative to heart transplants. “Over 23 million people around the world suffer from heart failure. The disease is usually treated with a transplant, but because donated hearts are hard to come by, there is an…
The AI-Rad Companion family supports radiologists, radiation oncologists, radiotherapists and medical physicists through automated post processing of MRI, CT and X-ray datasets. It saves the clinicians' time and helps them to increase their diagnostic precision.
As a highly innovative medical specialisation, radiology increasingly takes advantage of the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence (AI). Yet, there is no risk for the future of the specialty. Demands on this discipline are too complex, too communicative. Thus, machines will not replace a radiologist any time soon – of that Uwe Joseph Schöpf, professor of radiology, cardiology and…
When the heart valve between the aorta and the left ventricle is narrowed, i.e. aortic valve stenosis is present, different genes are active in men than in women. Scientists of the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have discovered this for the first time. Future research can be planned more precisely according to these results and could…
More than one in ten cancer patients do not die from their cancer but from heart and blood vessel problems instead, according to new research published in the European Heart Journal. For some cancers, like breast, prostate, endometrial, and thyroid cancer, around half will die from cardiovascular disease (CVD). Dr Nicholas Zaorsky, a radiation oncologist, and Dr Kathleen Sturgeon, an assistant…
Is it possible to repair the rachis without having to open the abdomen or the back? A team of French surgeons has done just that. Thanks to minimally invasive robotic surgery, exposing the patient to risky spine interventions may soon be avoidable, a leading surgeon explained. The team of neurosurgeons and vascular surgeons has, for the first time, successfully repaired the lumbar spine with the…
Patients with the rare Loeys-Dietz syndrome suffer from aortic enlargement which may result in sudden over-expansion and a fatal aortic tear. In order to prevent this from happening, an aortic prosthesis must be implanted. A team of vascular surgeons at the University Hospital of Zurich was one of the first in the world to risk undertaking this life-saving operation on a child as an emergency…
Scientists in the UK have developed tiny patches of engineered heart tissue that have the potential to be implanted to help people recover from a heart attack. Measuring approximately 3cm x 2cm, the patches contain up to 50 million human-induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM). Yet, these are programmed to turn into working heart muscle that can beat and gradually be…
Uwe Joseph Schoepf, Professor for Radiology, Cardiology and Paediatrics and Director of the Department of Cardiovascular Imaging at the Medical University of South Carolina, discusses areas of application for AI-based radiology. The cardiothoracic imaging expert and his team were largely involved in the development and early clinical trials of the Siemens AI-Rad Companion Chest CT, a software…
Scientists at ETH Zürich and the South African company Strait Access Technologies are using 3D printing to produce custom-made artificial heart valves from silicone. This could help meet an ageing population’s growing demand for replacement heart valves. The human heart has four chambers, each equipped with a valve to ensure blood flow in one direction only. If any of the heart valves are…
Researchers have discovered that a family of lipids (fats) contribute to the development of a serious aortic disease, by driving clotting in the blood vessel wall. The findings could lead to the development of new treatments for this potentially life threatening condition. The team, led by researchers at Cardiff University, in collaboration with colleagues at Oxford and Erlangen, discovered that…
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have found that type IgG antibodies play an unexpected role in atherosclerosis. A study on mice shows that the antibodies stabilise the plaque that accumulates on the artery walls, which reduces the risk of it rupturing and causing a blood clot. It is hoped that the results, which are published in the journal Circulation, will eventually lead to improved…
Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) are literally breaking barriers using ultrasound waves emitted from a flexible patch to accurately measure central blood pressure and help detect cardiovascular problems earlier. For a while now, smart, wearable devices have had the ability to capture how many steps we take in a day or measure our heart…
New 7-Tesla MR methods could potentially shed light on cardiomyopathies’ principles, according to a leading French radiologist who also stresses the importance of teamwork between radiologists, cardiologists, surgeons and anaesthesiologists. Morphologic and dynamic information of the myocardium is achieved with millimetric resolution (0.9x0.9 square mm). Strong intensity variations…
While the question is still debated as to whether MRI is the better CT, along comes a potential game changer – a new data based 3-D reconstruction method of heart anatomy and function that aims to replace diagnostic coronary angiography. In the near future not only adult patients with coronary heart disease could benefit from this new technique but also children with complex congenital heart…
NIH-supported researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) are studying an alternative to the contrast agents currently used for magnetic resonance imaging. In a recent study, they showed that the experimental alternative, a manganese-based compound, performs as well as approved contrast agents. Their study appeared online in Radiology. Magnetic resonance (MR) images are taken so that a…
Time is of the essence in an emergency situation, and may be the difference between life and death. Ambulance crews on the front line must decide rapidly whether or not a patient is suffering from a life-threatening condition requiring specialist treatment, and point-of-care ultrasound can provide vital guidance. Geert-Jan Deddens, a nurse practitioner in emergency care with the Rotterdam…
‘Ultrasound plays a key role in diagnosis and monitoring of treatment in the A&E department,’ emphasises Professor Joseph Osterwalder, Medical Director of the Cantonal Hospital in Appenzell, Switzerland. ‘I cannot imagine emergency medicine without ultrasound.’
The first comprehensive European advice on deep vein thrombosis is published in the current issue of European Heart Journal. The recommendations were produced by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group on Aorta and Peripheral Vascular Diseases and Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and Right Ventricular Function.
Acknowledging the need for faster ultrasound automation, Dr Alexander Weichert explained how automated procedures can assist in the early detection of cardiovascular disease and prenatal diagnostic testing, and why a detailed prenatal diagnosis can reduce mortality and morbidity.
Siemens Healthineers employees Dr. Klaus Engel and Dr. Robert Schneider have been nominated for the German Future Prize along with Professor Franz Fellner, MD, for the development of the visualization technology Cinematic Rendering.
A physician has basically two possibilities to look inside a body: putting a scalpel to the patient’s skin or using an imaging device. Both options have advantages and disadvantages.
A new study suggests that a single exposure to e-cigarette (e-cig) vapor may be enough to impair vascular function.
Cardiac surgeons are successfully performing more extensive surgical repairs of type A aortic dissection—one of the highest risk operations in cardiothoracic surgery. These new surgical techniques, along with improved postoperative care, are resulting in better long-term outcomes and lower rates of complications.
New 3-D simulation models that include haemodynamics enable better treatment of hepatic tumours via radio-embolisation, according to eminent Spanish radiologist José Ignacio Bilbao Jaureguizar.
The hybrid operating room is one of the most innovative developments in the surgical sector. The combination of interventional and minimally invasive surgical procedures is exciting for many clinical disciplines. The room design, intraoperative imaging techniques as well as interdisciplinary collaboration play a pivotal role in this.
UK researchers have identified a new approach, which could make it easier to identify fatty plaques that could cause heart attacks or a stroke.
Since launching Somatom Definition in 2005, Siemens has continued to develop Dual Source technology in order to overcome the remaining challenges in computed tomography. This significant development has made it possible to produce diagnostic images of a patient’s beating heart and coronary vessels without having to artificially lower their heart rate, for example. Scanning speeds that were…
The University Hospital Jena (UKJ) is the first one in Germany and one of the first in Europe to use the GE Revolution CT for faster diagnostics in an emergency center. Thanks to innovative technology, several steps of the examination can now be done in one single scan, exposing the patient to a quite low radiation dose.
Technological advances in CT imaging have sparked a veritable explosion of imaging data. Pushing against the rush of novel imaging findings there is, what Dr Geoffrey Rubin calls, the slow wave of adoption in medicine, the acceptance and agreement of the clinical community for new diagnostic assessments.
In the year of its 140th anniversary, Shimadzu has released the new Trinias MiX package (Minimally invasive eXperience) to support less invasive treatments through a variety of applications. The Trinias MiX package is an exten¬sion of the Trinias angiography system, which facilitates high-level interventions through proprietary image processing technology. Shimadzu provides functional…
Virtual models can be created in the angiography room thanks to an approach developed by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the university’s departments of radiology, radiation oncology, and nuclear medicine. The latest advances were presented by Dr. Gilles Soulez at the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology Society of Europe (CIRSE) conference…
Vascular surgeon Pat Kelly of Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, knew his patients were doing better with the stent graft he designed, but he wanted a better understanding of the mechanics before testing the device more widely in a clinical trial. For that, he reached out to South Dakota State University. Associate professor Stephen Gent in mechanical engineering had done computational…
Black Blood Imaging may not sound helpful – but it is. The MRI specialist can work with clearer contrasts and gain greater certainty in tumour diagnosis as well as the detection of inflammatory changes in tissue.
Working with lab animals and human heart cells, scientists from Johns Hopkins and other institutions have identified what they describe as "the long-sought culprit" in the mystery behind a cell-signaling breakdown that triggers heart failure.
Congenital heart defects are the most common congenital disorders found in newborns – around one in a hundred babies are affected. This type of heart defect can be reliably diagnosed with ultrasound, usually during the detailed foetal scan carried out halfway through the pregnancy. Report: Brigitte Dinkloh
‘An intelligent imaging tool, Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI) moves beyond conventional colour Doppler technology by applying a unique algorithm allowing visualisation of small vessels with low velocity, while maintaining high resolution, minimal motion artefacts and high frame rates,’ Toshiba proudly reports.
Since minimally invasive surgery (MIS) entered cardiac surgery in the mid-1990s it became unthinkable not to use this medical specialty. However, MIS procedures do not always result in the best outcome for patients.
The C-Pulse, manufactured by Australian-American company Sunshine Heart, Inc. is neither a pulsatile artificial heart nor one of the well-known non-pulsatile left heart support systems
Since cardiac surgeon Adrian Kantrowitz, of the Maimonides Medical Centre, Brooklyn, first introduced intra-aortic balloon pulsation (IABP) into clinical practice in 1967 (Surg Clin North Am. 1969 Jun; 49 (3) :505 -11), the technique has been considered the method of choice for short-term mechanical cardiac support following a heart attack.
Computed tomography (CT) is the modality of choice for many diagnostic issues. Whilst currently its major strength is the visualisation of anatomical detail, future technological improvements may also reduce radiation exposure.
This May it will be exactly 60 years since the first extracorporeal circulation device to temporarily replace heart/ lung function was successfully used in a clinical setting.
To treat heart problems, common sense says we should look to the heart. New European research based on an advanced ultrasound system suggests that stiffening of the arteries plays a key role
Cardiology is playing an increasingly important role in today’s healthcare environment and, as a direct result, cardiologists are facing new challenges almost every day. Addressing the need of improving clinician confidence and diagnostic accuracy, Toshiba Medical Systems Europe presented two symposia on the first day of the European Congress of Cardiology, to be held in Munich, Germany, 25-28…
One heart – One Team, the motto for this year’s German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Congress emphasises that cardiac surgeons and cardiologists must now work more in tandem for their mutual patients. This is not just a short-lived three-day slogan, but a daily reality at the University Heart Centre Hamburg, as EH correspondent Holger Zorn reports
Radiation dose reduction in CT angiography can be achieved by reducing the kV settings, reducing the tube voltage, the tube current and by using iterative reconstruction algorithms.
The German Paediatric Heart Centre (DKHZ) is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. Over 25 years the centre has treated big and small patients with congenital heart defects, very now and then being faced with rare, individual cases that present very particular challenges. In any one year, consultant paediatric cardiologist Professor Martin Schneider MD encounters perhaps five such non-…
Traumatic injuries result in 800,00 deaths per year in Europe, making this one of the leading causes of mortality and the primary cause of death in patients aged 45 years old or younger. Depending on the type and severity of injury, usually trauma patients are treated by a team of experts from different disciplines.
‘Sacrilegious meddling with divine providence’ was the charge brought against New York cardiologist Alfred Hyman in the 1930s when, after successful animal experiments, he applied the first cardiac pacemaker – then still a cumbersome external device – in human patients. A quarter of a century later the first cardiac pacemaker, mounted in a shoe polish tin and covered by epoxy resin, was…
One year ago interventional cardiologists raised champagne glasses to celebrate the first publication of clinical evidence showing that transcatheter valve implants (TAVI) is safe and effective. In May at EuroPCR 2011, cardiologists raised magnifying glasses to look closer at further clinical results. John Brosky reports from Paris
Transcatheter valve implants (TAVI) have encouraged a new group of patients. Previously inoperable, they may now receive adequate treatment. Some centres report a success rate close to the conventional open surgical procedure. Naturally, the long-term outcome is still unclear. Holger Zorn reports.
At ESC, Siemens presents a new image processing software that helps cardiologists and cardiac surgeons prepare and perform transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVI): Syngo Aortic ValveGuide automatically reconstructs a 3D representation of the aortic root from CT-like cross-sectional images acquired with the angiography system.
‘We are very proud that our country and our society has been selected to be presented during the special ESR meets Poland session,’ said Professor Marek J Sasiadek, Vice-President of the Polish Medical Radiological Society. ‘The history of Polish radiology began in 1896, just a few months after Wilhelm Roentgen’s discovery, when the first X-ray image was performed in Krakow.
A young singer leans against the mixing desk in a recording studio in a laid-back manner. She listens to songs just recorded for her new album, moving her lips to the sound. Suddenly she stops, reaches for her head and seconds later collapses, unconscious. On hospital admittance physicians discover that a previously undetected aneurysm in her brain has ruptured.
GE Healthcare's first Discovery PET/CT 600-series scanners are being installed in a number of leading clinics around the world. "This first set of installations is a big step forward in the diagnosis and monitoring of disease", said Terri Bresenham, newly appointed vice- president and general manager of GE Healthcare's global Molecular Imaging business.
Progress in cardiac imaging diagnostics has made cardiac catheterisation less common. What may sound like 'fishing in foreign territory' is in reality the chance for interventional cardiologists to concentrate on, and specialise in, more innovative invasive procedures.
In October, the office of the Federal President announced that Professor Haverich, with his Hanover research team, has been nominated for the 'German Future Prize' for the development and successful use of adaptable biological heart valves
The Dutch E-health initiatives have made remarkable progress in recent years, writes Marcel Swennenhuis, President of Topicus HealthCare. Many solutions, such as online medication services, patient portals and web-based disease management initiatives, demonstrate the success of the country's EHR approach.
Royal Philips Electronics is to lead `euHeart´, the new European Union (EU) funded research project that aims to improve CVD diagnosis, therapy planning and treatment.
`High performance systems need not be large,´ says Aloka, manufacturer of the new compact ProSound a7, which produces high-resolution images yet can be used in areas with little spare space. `Broadband Harmonics provides high sensitivity and penetration that is comparable to fundamental-frequency imaging resulting in a significant improvement above standard harmonic imaging,´ Aloka reports.
The RWTH Aachen University Hospital and the Maastricht University Hospital with their corresponding medical faculties are located centrally in the EU region Meus-Rhine.
Developments in MRI over the last few years have revolutionized the diagnosis and therapy of cardiovascular diseases. Contrast-enhanced MR angiography has established itself as a non-invasive, standard procedure for the diagnosis of vascular diseases in the thorax, abdomen and periphery.
Rotational artherectomy - Around 33,000 patients are hospitalised annually due to myocardial infarction, but only five percent actually die, thanks to the various state-of-the-art treatments mastered by Czech physicians.
By Shahram Vaezy, Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, Washington, Seattle, and Vesna Zderic, Assistant Professor at Electronic and Computer Engineering Department at George Washington University, Washington DC.
The Lifebridge B2T (bridge-to-transport) is the first, fully portable emergency life support system for patients suffering cardiogenic shock, or those showing signs of imminent cardiogenic shock.
65-year-old woman who had an aorta dissection in 1994. The ascending aorta and thearcus were replaced. In 2000, the patient underwent descendes replacement after suffering from an aneurysm. The patient was referred to the Aquilion 16 slice for evaluation of the aorta and measurement of the remaining aorta.
New pulsatile heart pumps (ventricular assist devices - VAD) can remain in the body as a permanent heart support.
In our last issue we featured the Future Operating Room Project developed at St Olavs Hospital, University Hospital of Trondheim, Norway, a collaboration between the hospital and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. There, highly promising research on navigation is being carried out in co-peration with the research foundation Sintef Health Research. Professor of Surgery Hans O…
Diagnostic possibilities with multi-slice CT of the neck and skull base.
UK - Ten years ago a donor heart was transplanted into a 2-year-old patient, suffering cardiomyopathy, to take over the function of her own enlarged and failing heart. However, unlike many transplant cases - her own heart was not removed.
Germany - 0.7% of newborn babies need surgery for congenital heart defects (CHD) - i.e. around 5,000-6,000 children in every 700,000 born.
2,871 aortic surgery procedures were carried out in Germany last year. 317 of these were on the aortic arch - and particularly dangerous.
Fifty years ago Henry Gibbon introduced a vital tool for cardiac surgery - the heart-lung machine. While pioneering efforts were made in the first half of the 20th century, this equipment enabled reproducible operations for either congenital or acquired heart disease in many patients.